Lee Jae-myung: "Busan Expo Failure, Deceiving and Mocking the People"

Government aimed for a dramatic comeback in 'Busan Expo' but failed
Lee "If you believed in a comeback, it's incompetence... visible measures needed"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, directly criticized the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's failure to secure the '2030 Busan World Expo' bid, calling it "ultimately deceiving and mocking the people."

At the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 1st, Lee said, "Who would blame the disappointing outcome itself?" but added, "They inflated the public's expectations by talking about a last-minute comeback, but this is not a soccer match or a game played just for fun." He continued, "Is it acceptable to approach such a major national policy and the future of Busan so insincerely and frivolously?"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 1st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He criticized, "If they did not foresee this result at all and truly believed a last-minute comeback was possible, then they are incompetent. If they knew and still acted this way, it is truly a bad act." He added, "The government and ruling party must seriously consider this issue and take 'visible measures' to resolve the wounds and the sense of being mocked that the people have suffered." He emphasized, "Since hosting the event was meant for the development of the Busan region, national policies for the economic development of Busan should be bolder and more prompt than they are now."

Supreme Council member Jang Kyung-tae criticized the presentation (PT) video, which sparked controversy for being hastily produced, including background music from Psy's 'Gangnam Style,' a hit 11 years ago. Jang said, "There is widespread criticism that the final presentation video for the Busan Expo bid looks more like a promotional video for an entertainment awards ceremony than an Expo bid video," and pointed out, "Out of the total 30 seconds, only 9 seconds show scenes of Busan." He added, "It has been confirmed that a total budget of 5.3 billion KRW was used for receptions and other expenses," and demanded, "We request materials on the storyboard, planning documents, and usage details."